Although he noted that mental illness is a factor, Ciccariello-Maher argued that “we can’t lose sight of these broader questions,” asking “[w]hat is happening with regard to not only white people, but white men, in particular?”

Ciccariello-Maher argued that there is an “institutional apparatus” that trains white men “in violence and that encourages them to feel as though they’re on the losing side of history,” adding that many white males feel like “victims” of society.

When white men feel like victims, he contended, they lash out.

“You know, Trump makes hay out of the fact that white men, in particular, feel as though they’re the victims of this society, despite being in absolute control of it,” he said at the end of a lengthy statement regarding the Texas church shooting. “And this is something that is powerfully dangerous, and it’s why we’re not seeing only the rise in violent attacks, more generally, and the rise of far-right movements, but we’re certainly seeing, you know, clearly, sort of some very serious incidents of mass violence, as well.”

“Whiteness is never seen as a cause, in and of itself, of these kinds of massacres, of other forms of violence,” Ciccariello-Maher said, asserting that “whiteness is a structure of privilege and it’s a structure of power, and a structure that, when it feels threatened, you know, lashes out.”

A d v e r t i s e m e n t

He added that whiteness is “powerfully dangerous, and it’s why we’re not seeing only the rise in violent attacks, more generally, [but] the rise of far-right movement.”

In response to the Las Vegas Massacre, Ciccariello-Maher blamed “Trumpism” and “white supremacy” for causing the deaths of at least 59 people. Soon after, he was banned from the Drexel University campus, as he confirmed during his interview with Democracy Now!.

“I’m currently teaching classes online,” he acknowledged, though he posited that “there’s no reason, certainly, to exclude faculty from campus for having important public conversations and for teaching about hard questions. That’s what we’re there to do.”

Campus Reform reached out to Ciccariello-Maher for comment, and he responded with a short statement saying “Campus Reform is trash.” He did not respond to any follow-up inquiries.

Drexel University did not respond to a request for comment on why Ciccariello-Maher is banned from campus.